Ethical Journalism News

We, the undersigned journalists and media professionals, stand in solidarity with our Egyptian colleagues in their struggle for a free and independent press. Intimidation of the media has been a central tactic of every Egyptian regime in recent years, and the fight by journalists to resist such intimidation has been a vital component of the country’s broader battle against state tyranny. Egypt’s rulers must know that their attempts to repress any form of public scrutiny or dissent will be met with fierce opposition, not just by local reporters but by the wider international community of journalists as well.

Dollarocracy is about a lot more than the money raised and spent in campaigns. It is about the collapse of meaningful journalism, resulting from the downsizing and closure of newspapers, the replacement of local news and talk radio programming with syndicated “content” from afar, the reduction in political coverage by local television news outlets, and the horse-race coverage and spin that tend to characterize national news programs on broadcast and cable television. (via The Nation)

Like many journalists, Lasantha prided himself on bravery: there is no higher compliment in the profession than to call a colleague “courageous”. But there is a danger in this that we create martyrs: that we become enamoured of the idea that a good journalist should die for the cause. That persecution and suffering are marks of valour. (via Index On Censorship)

Without media attention, the habitual government inefficiencies, indifference and lassitude, plus the usual politicking of local politicians, summed up in the “business as usual” mind set, could only have prevailed, and did. Only in the days preceding, as well as during November 8 this year, did the media refocus on the rehabilitation of the Yolanda-affected areas, only to discover that it had not proceeded as those affected had hoped for. (via Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility)

We can all sympathize that difficult choices have to be made to tell a complicated story in a limited amount of time. Yet the omission of so many messy contradictions, particularly in the context of a late-term pregnancy that ended outside a hospital with a dead baby, makes the story misleading. (via NPR)

Events

London, UK

December 4th: EJN supporters are invited to our meeting where we will discuss our programmes for 2015 and the launch of the network as a formal charity registered in the UK. There will also be a discussion on how we follow up the recent international reports on self-regulation and media corruption.